Some Thoughts on Clay

But now, O LORD, thou art our father;

we are the clay, and thou our potter;

and we all are the work of thy hand.

Isaiah 64:8 

Several years ago, I took a pottery class in college and I learned so much.

Any time you work with clay, you must take time to gather all the necessary tools and set up your work area. There are a few building tools you need but those vary depending upon what you are doing. One thing you always need is water. The water keeps the clay from drying out while you are working with it. It also lubricates the clay. You cannot work with clay without water and lots of it.

I hand built a teapot and I used lots of water.  I smoothed the coils together as I built. I smoothed the surface of the pot. I used buckets of water to accomplish my purposes.

Working on that pot reminded me of the verses in Ephesians chapter 5, verses 25-27: “… even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

The phrase “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” jumped out at me.

Working with the clay took an abundance of water to keep my work from drying out. As a Christians, I know I often “dry out” because of a lack of the Word. I realize I need more of God's Word when I feel dry.

I also used water to smooth out the rough surfaces just as the Bible smooths out my rough surfaces. Am I grumpy? Time for Water. Am I discontent? Time for Water. Am I impatient? Time for Water. Water smooths the lumps and bumps and flaws.

After a while, I learned to feel whether the clay was cooperating. The least cooperative clay is dry clay. The first thing I would do when the clay was resisting was add water. Since I don’t want to resist the working of my Potter in my life as He molds me and makes me into a vessel fit for His purpose, I make sure I add plenty of Water every day.